Heroes of Daybreak
by Dragonoiya
Summary: As each Akatsuki member die they find themselves in DC Universe. The members are in conflict as to whether they should be heroes or villains so they just set out to follow their hearts and change the world. Or they could just use common sense and leave the world as it is...
1. Scorpion

Chapter 1

Scorpion

Sasori opened his wooden eyes to semi-darkness. Wasn't he dead? He was very sure his heart in his box device on his chest was pierced…by his own parents-turned-puppets.

Sasori lifted himself up on shaking legs and took in his surroundings. He was in an alleyway, it seemed. It was dark, save for the streetlights, and almost silent. A few drunken night-goers staggered by but none took notice of the red-haired puppeteer. Exploring beyond the alley, Sasori found himself staring at some of the tallest buildings that he never imagined. Where the heck was he? If this is what is called the afterlife, then Sasori wasn't very impressed.

The puppeteer analyzed his situation. It seemed he was in an entirely different world, or afterlife (you surely could not call this heaven, not that he deserved it). He had no awareness of this place and what dangers lurked.

Adding to his vulnerability was the lack of his external puppet armor, Hiruko. Even his Red Secret, consisting of an army of a hundred puppets, was not in its rightful place in the compartment in the right side of his wooden chest. Worse still,' WHERE'S MY THIRD KAZEKAGE PUPPET?!' was the desperate thought of the immortal puppeteer.

Now this was one of those moments where Sasori was hopelessly in need of killing somebody. Being an S-class criminal did that to you, especially if you were a part of Akatsuki, more specifically a partner of Deidara's.

Looking back to the alley where he first found himself, Sasori spotted two clothed figures lying in a heap on the ground. Upon closer inspection, Sasori found that, somehow, the puppets of his parents followed him to this new world. Sasori sighed in defeat. Life must hate him. At least they were puppets that he could actually use. Using himself was only a last resort, second to the Red Secret.

The puppeteer connected his chakra strings to the puppets and they sprang to life. Feeling a sense of nostalgia, Sasori put his Akatsuki cloak back on (he removed it when he checked for his Red Secret) and sealed his parents into an empty scroll. He ventured the streets and was tense at the slightest of movements. Realizing it was safer on the building rooftops; Sasori channeled chakra to his feet and ran up the wall of one building. From there he took off jumping from rooftop to rooftop.

Dawn approached, and the puppeteer was _still_ roof-jumping. What the hell? How big is this place? When morning caught up to him, he decided to explore just walking on the ground, dangers be damned. He'd actually learn something that way.

The longer he walked, the more time passed, the number of people milling the streets increased alarmingly. Some looked at the puppeteer strangely, others dissed him as some "cosplayer". Sasori passed a newspaper stand and the front headlines caught his attention.

"**Superman saves the day yet again!"**

'What the heck is a Superman?' was the puppeteer's thought.

Sasori picked up the newspaper and started reading through it. He learned much more from this flimsy paper than he ever could from a reliable informant!

From what he could gather from that one newspaper, Sasori learned of these so called 'super heroes' and 'super villains' and their deeds. It was almost like reading a fictional storybook to the ninja. Sasori also learned of political events and the effects of natural disasters. It seemed believable and all but the ninja puppet could not imagine such events happening.

As if to show him proof, an alarm started ringing nearby. A bank was being robbed. 'Amateurs.' Sasori thought. The thieves ran with huge bags of what seemed to be green paper, which could be this world's form of money.

The robbers didn't get very far before they literally bumped into a huge macho man in blue and red spandex tights and an 'S' emblem on his chest. He also wore a long flowing cape.

The burglars knew when they were defeated for they cowered in fear at the very sight of the man and raised their hands in surrender. The people around them cheered.

Sasori, being the S-rank criminal that he was, stood there and observed the sight before him. This man, Superman if the whispers of the bystanders were correct, had the advantage of the citizen's approval of him, thus making it easier to 'fight crime' as the newspaper put it. He's also got to be strong, the robbers' reluctance to fight back proved that much.

The ninja puppet would take any and all opportunities to settle comfortably in this world. The citizens were too normal. This Superman was, perhaps, the best chance of getting himself a place to live. All the puppet had to do was pass off for a hero…That would be difficult.

Before the puppet could take his chance to speak to the Man of Steel, said Man of Steel flew off to who-knows-where. At least there were plenty more chances of getting to him. Playing the act of 'hero' would do just that.

Weeks of sleepless crime-fighting nights later (not that the puppet master could even sleep) Sasori made a name for himself as the Scorpion, which was what he was named after. Soon he was rewarded for his efforts by drawing not only Superman's notice, but the entire Justice League's attention. However, it wasn't the good kind of attention.

During the League's confrontation with the puppeteer, Sasori learned that heroes did _not_ kill their prey. Well how was he supposed to remember_ that_ when killing was second nature to him?! Add to the fact that all the weapons on his parent's puppets were lethal _and_ the fact that most criminals were so weak they die after getting hit with one kunai…okay so it was a poisoned one…but still...

"Scorpion," the man known as Batman addressed "your days of ruthlessly murdering criminals have come to an end. Human life is not yours for the taking, good or bad."

Screw this. The puppet master was _not_ going to be hunted down and captured like he never was a part of an S-rank criminal organization. And he will never ever _ever_ again try out the life of a hero. Better the devil you know than the devil you don't.

After a few showers of poisoned senbon needles, a lot of dodging on both sides' parts and a perfectly timed smoke bomb, Sasori made his escape out of the sight of the superheroes. Hopefully he would find a criminal organization strong and willing enough to accept him in their ranks so that the puppeteer would finally and peacefully set about recreating his puppet army.

Three days later Sasori met the Light.


	2. Incinerator

Chapter 2

Incinerator

Deidara woke up to find himself in a jungle. What the hell, yeah? Wait, wasn't he supposed to die after he C0'd that Sasuke guy…?... Hell yeah! Not only did he win _and_ survive but he also made the most artistic masterpiece of a bang he had ever made in his entire life. Time to celebrate by blowing this jungle place off to hell.

However, when the young terrorist reached into the pouch where he usually kept his clay he found…nothing. Absolutely _nothing_.

'Shit.' Deidara cursed mentally 'must have used up the last of it for that C0. At least it was worth it.'

If only the blonde knew Sasuke was still alive and that he would desperately need his clay for future use. Basically, it wasn't worth it.

Exploring through the jungle area, Deidara found himself face-to-face with…a vulture? HOLY SHIT it's freaking HUGE! And that giant vulture was definitely out for his blood, or more specifically his flesh, so Deidara did the only thing he could do. He ran. Is this some sort of summoning? No wait, there's more….oh crap, yeah. Did he _somehow_ end up in the Summoning Realm or something? The blonde terrorist _really_ wanted his clay right now. Even if it's just a little bit, yeah!

Seemingly out of nowhere, a boomerang shaped like a bat came flying and blew up in one of the vultures' face. This was enough to scare the rest off. Deidara felt two things at this. Grateful to his savior and pissed that whoever threw that was able to blow things up and not him.

Said savior came flying out of a tree and dropped to the ground with the grace only ninjas could possess. But he was dressed weird. He wore black, yellow and red spandex with a black cape and a dynamo mask. Who-or what- dresses like _that_?!

"Hey dude. Are you okay?" the cape-wearing boy asked, concerned yet still suspicious of the blonde.

"I guess, yeah. Where am I, yeah?" the cloak-wearing man replied, a little disoriented by the shock of both the vultures and the realization he was somewhere he wasn't supposed to be.

"You're…in India …Wait if you don't know where you are, how did you get here?"

"…That's a good question, yeah…"

Robin's eyebrow rose. First he saved who he thought was a 'damsel-in-distress' only to find 'she' was a guy (the voice kinda gave it away). And now the dude doesn't remember how he got _here_, _India_, where bizarre armed animals were reported attacking humans. How _convenient_. Of course it could also mean memory loss but what are the odds?

Kid Flash dropped from another tree next to Robin.

"How she is? What's her name? Did you get her phone number?" the hyperactive yellow and red spandex wearing Kid Flash asked, all seemingly at one time.

"Fine. I don't know. No. By the way it's a guy." Robin answered simultaneously.

"Aw man."

Deidara was both confused and pissed. Seriously, why does _everyone_ think he's a girl?! He was very manly he could assure you, yeah.

The two teens in front of him suddenly had changes in their expressions. It was weird, like they were having a telepathic conversation with someone.

Not wanting to interrupt their…whatever they were doing, Deidara stood there waiting for them to return to reality. After a few minutes they eventually came back, determination etched on their faces.

"Ummm…" was the intelligent greeting.

The superhero duo remembered who they were with and debated on what to do with him. It's suspicious that they found him here of all places but if he really did lose his memory then it would be dangerous for him to walk around just begging for death. That black cloak with red clouds also looked kind of_ familiar_.

"I'm Robin, he's Kid Flash and_ you_ need to get to safety." Robin introduced. He grabbed the terrorist's wrist and headed to an area where he hoped no controlled mutated animals lurked. Leaving Deidara with a few words of warning, the teens set off to meet with the rest of their team.

However, Deidara wasn't satisfied with just waiting for a conclusion to his problem. He, being the ninja he was, silently followed the young superheroes just to watch them at…whatever they were doing. And he was glad he did.

It was like watching a science-fiction movie; the holograms, the electric barriers, the collars that control animals, the alien, the technology; except that this was real. _Very_ real. Deidara must have been so shocked that he ventured out of the safety zone and almost into the line of fire from the gorilla's bullets because Kid Flash shouted out to him.

"Hey! Didn't we tell you to stay pu-"Kid was cut off when he bounced off the gorilla as he ran towards it. Not that Deidara was listening anyways. His attention was fixed on something else. Or more like some_one _else_._

"Brat, what are _you_ doing here?" Scorpion asked his former partner with surprise yet still keeping his posture and features cool.

"Sasori no Danna! You're alive, yeah!" Deidara exclaimed with glee as he practically glomped the red-haired puppeteer. During his time with Tobi, Deidara had come to appreciate Sasori more and more and eventually miss him. Tobi had that effect.

"Get off me, you idiot. Of course I'm alive, as you can see…"

"But what are you doing here, yeah?"

"That's what I could ask you. But my duty is to protect the Brain."

"What…?

The ninjas' heads turned to the scene before them. A brain in a mechanical dome was surrounded by a team of super powered teenagers, one of which saved the blonde from the vultures. Sasori's puppets sprang to life and dropped smoke bombs.

"Duty calls. But you're coming with me, brat." Sasori demanded before grabbing Deidara by the collar and the two of them vanishing with Brain and Monsieur Mallah.

When the smoke cleared, the superhero team were frustrated that what they thought was Brain blowing them up was only a light switch. That, and Scorpion also took the guy they found before.

When they next saw him, he wasn't the gender-bent, defenseless, amnesiac blonde they saved from giant vultures. He was an insane terrorist with THREE mouths that would blow up anything with a pulse with exploding _clay_. He was Incinerator.

Sasori wouldn't tell Deidara that the clay he gave him was from a kid's store, no wonder they were colorful. Well, what the brat didn't know wouldn't hurt him.

The Light was pleased with their new member as well.


	3. Priest and Treasurer

**WARNING: Extremely harsh language, courtesy of Hidan…**

Chapter 3

Priest and Treasurer

"OW! What the fuck…?" was Hidan's first reaction in the new world. Damn it, he was supposed to be immortal! How could he have been defeated by that pineapple-headed cunt-fuck of an asshole?! Thank the almighty Jashin he was still alive, not that he ever had any doubt in his immortality. Now what the hell is the greedy miser doing here?

"Hidan, what are you doing here?" Kakuzu asked.

"Bitch, that was what I was going to ask you!" Hidan shouted.

"Weren't we separated?" Kakuzu continued. "I thought I died."

"You _thought_ you died? That's rich, coming from you." Hidan remarked snidely.

"Cut the jokes, we have a problem." Kakuzu waved his arm in a horizontal arc, indicating their surroundings.

People were staring at them. Hidan, like he was homicidal and was going to kill someone at any given moment (which he probably would, given he was grasping his Three Bladed Scythe), and Kakuzu, like he was a freak (which he was really). People staring at them wasn't new to the Immortal Duo, however, the buildings behind them were.

"FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU-"Kakuzu slapped the back of Hidan's head before he could finish his cry.

"Shut up, we need to find out where exactly we are." Kakuzu scolded.

He approached one of the citizens, who flinched and backed away slightly. Kakuzu raised his hands as a sign of peace, which only calmed the people by a _little bit_. Why were these people so scared? Surely they couldn't look _that _threatening…well maybe Hidan…

"Excuse me. Could you tell us where we are?" Kakuzu asked carefully, like he was talking to a frightened animal.

"Y-You're…in the city of M-Manhattan." A man stammered.

"I see. Thank you, you've been a great help." Kakuzu nodded then turned and made his way out of the circle of citizens, Hidan following. The man wasn't really much help. The two ninjas didn't even know what the hell a 'city' is, much less a 'Manhattan'.

"That faggot looked like he was gonna piss his pants! You really did it this time, Frankenstein!" Hidan whispered to his partner.

The citizens cleared a way for the ninjas to pass them. They were still wary and scared of them. Seriously, why?

For no absolute good reason, Hidan jumped up the walls of the buildings and started roof-hopping, all the while screaming out profanities and praising Jashin. Kakuzu shook his head and followed suite.

Night fell, but the ninjas were still roof-hopping. This 'city' must be bigger than all the Hidden Villages combined! Kakuzu turned his head towards his annoying partner when said partner started shouting out to him that he could see a fight.

"Oi, Frankenstein! I see a fucking fight over there! C'mon I've been itching for a ritual to Jashin-sama since we fucking got here!"

Oh how the former Waterfall ninja wished he could kill the annoying dickhead he had for a partner. But he can't because Hidan's immortality is bloody irritating! Plus he wouldn't get any money just by joining in on a street fight. Unless one of the fighters had a huge bounty on his head…What would he know? He just got here! Kakuzu wasn't sure people even set bounties around here.

"Fine. Just don't die." Kakuzu sighed.

"I won't die, bastard, because I _can't_ fucking die! I'm immortal, bitch! All hail Jashin-samaaa!" Hidan cried as he jumped to the roof on which a battle was taking place.

Kakuzu was beginning to lose his temper. Good thing he (read: Hidan) was jumping into a fight, someone will die tonight. Too bad it won't be Hidan.

As the Immortal Duo neared the battle scene they found a blonde girl dressed in green caught in hand-to-hand combat with a long-haired shirtless man with four red claw strips across his right eye. And by the looks of it the girl wasn't doing too well.

"So unfocused," the man commented "it struggles with inner demons and can't fight Harm while fighting itself. Harm doesn't battle his demons. Harm embraces them."

"Would Harm please shut up?!" the girl retorted, frustrated.

Another girl some distance away from the two combatants had her hands on a sheathed sword embedded into the floor. When she tried to pull it out, the sword electrified her and she fell down writhing in pain.

"Zatanna!" the blonde shouted out in concern for her friend. In her distraction, the man known as Harm punched her and she fell right next to her friend.

"And it cares about others, another weakness." Harm observed, picking up a white coat that was on the ground and putting it on. "The sword rejected its impure heart. It has not made the sacrifices Harm made to become pure."

The two girls' heads turned somewhere else. The girl known as Zatanna whispered something to her blonde friend. The blonde then took an arrow from her quiver and threw it at Harm's feet. Smoke erupted from the arrow head. While Harm's vision was cleared of the girls, they made their escape.

"Hey, unclefucking homofaggot! Today's your lucky day, bitch, because you're gonna be the fucking Day's Special for my sacrifice to Jashin-sama!" was the loud voice of Hidan coming from the edge of the same roof Harm was on. Harm's eyes widened. Never had Harm ever seen such a loud and obnoxious thing scream such rude words at him. It didn't matter, it will pay for its words by death.

Harm unsheathed his sword and charged at Hidan. Hidan, however, blocked his attack with the Three Bladed Scythe. From there their blades clashed multiple times. Though, in terms of the skill needed to wield their respective weapons, Hidan had the upper hand. Kakuzu just stood in the background, watching them with little amusement.

The Sword of Beowulf had electrified Hidan multiple times _and_ blew up his arm. 'Why does it not stop when it sees it is mortally injured? Does it not feel pain?' Harm mused. He finally found an opening in the crazy priest's attack and cut off Hidan's head.

When he expected the body to fall down limp, Harm got the shock of his life to see the headless body still swinging the scythe like a madman.

"This thing, it is no mortal human!" Harm exclaimed.

"Ha! I'm immortal, bitch! You can't kill me, fuckhead!" Hidan's head jeered.

As Hidan's body raised the scythe for the fatal kill, Harm raised his hand as indication for him to stop. "Wait!" The scythe stopped just inches from Harm's forehead.

"What the fuck do you want, asshole?"

"Harm recognizes and acknowledges its power. It wants a sacrifice for its ritual? Harm will give him one..."

_Later…_

An explosion was heard in Harm's house. Hidan and Kakuzu waited impatiently on the roof of the magic shop opposite.

"Tch. All he had to do is get me two fucking bitches to sacrifice! Not fucking blow 'em up! "Hidan complained.

"Shut up, you dumbass. Your fault you spared him for two girls." Kakuzu drawled "You could've asked him for money."

"Blasphemy! Jashinism requires us to create fucking destruction and death, not love of fucking material items like _that _shitty paper you call fucking money!"

"Do what you want. I'm not involved."

"Yet you're fucking here, standing next to _me_."

"Shut up."

"What the fuck? That fucktard just got killed by a fucking ghost!"

"He got knocked out by the blonde. He's unconscious, not dead."

"Well he _will_ be. He didn't get me my fucking bitches!"

"That sword looks expensive, maybe I can sell it for a handsome price."

"Fuck you."

The two ninjas dropped down into Harm's tiny backyard after the teens left. The plants were overgrown and the tied up body of Harm lay on the ground next to a grave. Hidan picked up the body and Kakuzu, the sword. The ninjas disappeared before the cops could raid the house.

In an abandoned warehouse, some miles away from Manhattan, Kakuzu was gloating over how much money he could get from selling the Sword of Beowulf while Hidan was preparing for his ritual. Harm was still knocked out.

"My, my, you two are quite the bad boys." A voice came from a dark corner. Stepping out of the shadows came Klarion the Witch Boy. "The very _definition_ of super villain. You two would make perfect members of The Light."

"Who the fuck are _you? _" Hidan snarled.

"The name's Klarion. And this is my familiar, Teekl." The witch boy introduced, mentioning the cat in his arms.

"And what the fuck do you want?'

"You two. More like, your power. And that sword."

Kakuzu held the sword protectively, not wanting this witch kid to steal away his cash.

"We'll pay you in big mortal cash for it _and _your services." Klarion continued.

"I'm in." Kakuzu submitted, a little too quickly for his partner's taste.

"What the fuck, you money-slut!? You give in too fucking easily when that shit's involved!" Hidan wailed.

"You can kill how many mortals you want for your…_rituals_. To a moderate degree."

"…Fuck Kakuzu, count me in. "

Klarion smirked. "The Light will be pleased to welcome Priest and Treasurer, The Zombie Combo."

"The fuck is that?"

"Code names. They strike fear in the enemy's heart."

"Sounds fucking stupid, but I was talking about the fucking lighty thing."

"The Light, your employers."


	4. Crow

Chapter 4

Crow

Itachi was brooding. After getting killed by his foolish little brother's hands, he wanted to _stay_ dead. Go to Heaven, go to Hell, even his consciousness just floating in empty space. Anything but being alive again. He'd already suffered enough in his previous life, thank you very much. At least it was snowing, the raven hoped he would freeze to death and not reincarnate again.

Sitting on the edge of an arch on a bridge, Itachi was aware of the people patrolling under it, probably this world's police force. They said something about clearing the way for someone. Who on earth needs such a huge path cleared for them? One of the men checked his watch for the time.

"He should pass here any minute." The man said.

"Lovely." A voice came from above. Itachi turned his head to see the newcomer, as did the cops. A big burly man with sideburns and three scars across his face stood on the edge of the bridge above the men. "Now all I have to do is get his attention. Any ideas?"

The man jumped down and started throwing punches at the officers. Every punch knocked each officer out. Itachi felt he should help, but he wasn't done brooding. No one interrupts an Uchiha's brooding no matter how hard they try.

As the man held one of the officers by the neck, a cloud of snow was kicked up by someone running extremely fast, Itachi could tell because his Sharingan was active. A red haired teen clad in red and yellow spandex and a mask with goggles passed the scene, realized what was happening and then made a U-turn to help the police.

The boy crashed into the man, sending him back a few meters and onto his knees but not knocking him down. As he got up the boy addressed the officers.

"Go! Get out of here! I'll handle Vandal." He shouted with a persisting and heroic tone.

"You'll _handle_ me?" Vandal mocked as he grabbed the teen's head and lifted him off the ground. "Little hero, do you really think you have what it takes to survive…Vandal Savage?"

The boy kicked Vandal in the chest, resulting in his release, and then kicked him again in the head sending the man back a few steps. As the boy ran towards him, Vandal aimed to punch but the young superhero dodged it by dropping to his knees and sliding under the outstretched fist. He attempted to trip Vandal but failed, receiving a punch to the face which sent him flying backwards.

The teen recovered quickly, dropping onto his knees. Wiping his chin, he glared at Vandal.

"When I heard authorities were clearing off this highway for a speedster, I assumed I'd be confronting Flash himself. He and I are due for a reckoning. But I must settle for making him miserable by killing his brat sidekick instead." Vandal smirked evilly.

The boy looked like he would engage in a fight again but the Uchiha had enough. Bursting into a flock of crows, Itachi reassembled himself in between Kid Flash and Vandal Savage.

"You, boy with the goggles, this highway had been cleared for a reason, right? Continue with your mission, I'll take it from here." Itachi inquired.

Realizing the time he wasted, Kid Flash zoomed off to his destination. He shouldn't have trusted the guy in the black cloak with red clouds, all the other similarly dressed _monsters _before him were bad news. Still, this one reminded him of his original objective. As much as he wanted to beat the crap out of Vandal, it wouldn't save the girl whose heart transplant he had to deliver. Checking his timer, he found he wasted ten minutes on Vandal. Kid ran faster as a way to make up for the time he lost.

Watching Kid Flash until he disappeared off the horizon, Itachi turned his attention to his would-be attacker. However, Vandal was simply checking his pocket watch. After confirming how long the fight had taken he pocketed the watch and muttered "It should suffice."

Turning to the raven haired man, Vandal tried to talk to him.

"You there, judging from your attire you must be another one of those Akatsuki." It wasn't a question and Itachi didn't comment. Vandal continued "Your friends are with us, there's no need to be strangers. Come join your fellow Akatsuki in The Light."

Akatsuki? This man from a completely different world knew of the criminal organization Itachi was once a part of? Perhaps Itachi wasn't as alone as he thought…

"In fact," Vandal continued "one of them should be waiting for the sidekick to take away the package, and to dispose of him should he ever find out what really happened."

Itachi realized that the whole fight scene was a setup to delay the arrival of the package. He didn't know exactly how important it was but if people like him had Akatsuki members in on this, it was probably serious.

"I see." Itachi replied, seemingly bored "I want to consult with my _friend_ before joining your organization."

"As you wish."

Itachi burst into crows and flew in the direction of the hospital in Seattle. Let's just hope he won't be too late to catch up with the speedster.

_Later…_

When the crows finally reassembled, Itachi found himself in an underground parking lot looking at a crawling Kid Flash, a man dressed in green psychically holding Kid down with a sword in hand, and an unamused Kakuzu holding a box with a heart inside. Typical Kakuzu.

The young superhero swiped his leg, connecting with the caped man's ankles and successfully tripping him. Getting up he ran and snatched the heart box straight out of Kakuzu's hands before he could react. Kakuzu was about to stop him by preparing a fire jutsu, but the jutsu was stopped by an enormous fireball. Itachi had intervened.

While Itachi kept Kakuzu busy, Kid Flash knocked out the other hired men and managed to bypass Count Vertigo's technology enough to knock him out as well and remove the headgear causing his mind to distort. He raced out of the lot and into the hospital, delivering the heart to the real doctors hopefully on time. Kid then passed out.

Meanwhile, Kakuzu still had his hands full with Itachi. Realizing his mission was a failure the second the boy got away with the target, he retreated. No way was he going to continue fighting against someone who, by far, outclassed him.

That night, it was reported that Queen Perdita had died on the operating table during the transplant.

_The Next Day…_

When Kid Flash opened his eyes he was on a hospital bed and faced with the man who indirectly and deliberately caused his niece's death.

"Count Vertigo." Kid recognized as sleep still clouded his mind.

"That's _King_ Vertigo to you, peasant."

"King?"

"That's where I stand. And the beauty of it is that I never laid a hand on her."

"And now no one can lay a hand on you."

"As the King of Vlativa, I'm untouchable."

"Let's test that theory! Urgh, ah!" Kid's hand clutched his chest in pain as he tried to sit up.

"Now, now, little hero, you'll pull your stitches. Besides, who exactly are you mad at, hmm? She died on the table. All that planning, all that effort, neither of us needn't bother."

"Right, and now it must kill you to know that you owe favors to Vandal Savage, Treasurer and…I'm guessing five ice villains? For nothing!"

"Not at all, they played their roles in my attempt to rid Vlativa of Perdita. We couldn't have known it was unnecessary."

"So you lost all deserved credit for _attempted_ murder."

"It's called regicide."

"It's called 'You're busted, jerk face'!" Kid Flash announced as he pulled back the nearby curtain to reveal an alive and perfectly healthy Queen Perdita sitting on another hospital bed next to two bodyguards and one smug Itachi Uchiha. "I believe you know Queen Perdita."

"No…" Count Vertigo croaked in disbelief.

"**It's called regicide."** A recorder in the Queen's hand played.

"Count Vertigo," she began "as Queen of Vlativa, I accuse you of high treason against the crown and revoke your diplomatic immunity."

The count glared at the Queen, gritting his teeth. "NO!" he cried, unsheathing his sword and charging towards the Queen. Fast as lightning, Itachi deflected the sword out of his hand using his kunai.

The sword clattered to the ground and the bodyguards moved in on Vertigo, grabbing his arms and restricting him.

"Send this clown to Belle Reve." Kid Flash ordered.

"…Well played, children." Vertigo commented. "Admittedly well played, his round goes to you. And please, by all means, allow your victory to go to your heads."

Itachi picked up the sword and sheathed it. He turned and presented it to the Queen.

"Thank you, both of you. Kid Flash, your plan worked…perfectly."

"Well, when I woke up and found you were in recovery, I knew Vertigo would make another attempt on your life. Unless, A. He thought you were dead and, 2. He lost that darn immunity and was sent away for good." Kid explained.

Perdita refused the count's sword and suggested Kid Flash have it as a souvenir. Kid Flash also refused it and took the box in which he carried the heart as his mission souvenir. Itachi accepted no rewards, choosing to follow the teen as Kid Flash walked out from the hospital.

Standing outside the building face-to-face, Kid rubbed the back of his neck and addressed the Uchiha.

"Look, it's great and all that you've helped save a country but I need to know which side you're playing for…"

"…If you're referring to the other Akatsuki members, it's safe to say I'm not like them and that I wish to fight for the good of the world." Itachi reassured.

"…wow…okay, I guess I could try to convince Batman that you're no threat? What should I call you anyways?"

Itachi gave a tiny yet gentle smile. "If you are Kid Flash, then you can call me Crow."

"Like that thing you did when-"At that moment, before Kid Flash could finish his sentence, Itachi disassembled into crows and disappeared. "…yup, that."

Crow made a good impression with the Justice League.


	5. Pain

Chapter 5

Pain

Oh how great life was to Nagato. The descendant of the Uzumaki clan, bearer of the Rinnegan, recognized leader of The Hidden Rain Village and Akatsuki and prodigious genius who mastered all elemental affinities at age ten, was lost in what he dubbed the 'Giant Village of Weird-ass Stuff.' Indeed, Nagato's aloof and detached personality with a god complex was traded in for a kind and carefree fair-skinned man with chin-length red hair; add to the fact that his legs were usable again.

Not caring about where he was or how he was still alive, Nagato fantasized about a certain blue-eyed blonde bringing peace to the ninja world. How, he will never know.

The red head was so busy daydreaming he never noticed the people around staring at him in fear. One, because of the cloak he wore and, two, he was dragging the corpse of Yahiko/Pain behind him.

"Leader?" a voice in front of him asked, unsure if the person he addressed was who he thought he was.

Nagato snapped back to reality and turned his attention to the man who addressed him similarly to how his members addressed him. He was met with a young man dressed in clothes similar to the citizens around them with onyx eyes and shoulder-length jet-black hair that was tied back into a low ponytail. He also had center-parted bangs that framed his face, extending to his chin. The most distinguishing features, by which Nagato recognized who he was, were the long, pronounced tear-troughs under his eyes.

"…Itachi-san?" Nagato recognized. When Itachi nodded his head, Nagato didn't know how to react. "But, weren't you dead?"

Itachi contemplated over this. "I'm afraid it is _you_ who is dead, Leader-sama." He replied.

"Oh! That makes much more sense. So, this is…"

"I'm sorry, but can we take this conversation elsewhere?" Itachi said while looking around. Nagato followed his gaze to see citizens around them staring and whispering. A man representing the police force was heading their way.

Before Nagato could respond, Itachi grabbed hold of his skinny bicep and they both dispersed into crows. Reassembling, they found themselves in the simple yet welcoming living room of an apartment. Itachi sat down on one of the armchairs, gesturing for Nagato to do the same. Said red head laid Yahiko's corpse on the sofa and sat down beside it. An awkward silence hung in the air.

"So…" Nagato hesitated, unsure of how to start.

"Are we in heaven? No." Itachi questioned and answered for him, both at the same time.

"Seems legitimate. This place looks nothing like it. I guess that crosses out hell as well?"

"I wouldn't quite put it like that, we're dead but we're not done. We aren't the only ones either. Sasori, Deidara, Hidan and Kakuzu are here as well. They're quite infamous too. But if you ask a normal citizen, they go by code names. Sasori is Scorpion, Deidara is Incinerator, Hidan is Priest and Kakuzu is Treasurer."

"I see, fitting given their statuses, but how does that not cross out hell entirely?"

"Think about it. They _are _hell. It's not safe for us to roam around while in our normal Akatsuki garb. We'd be attacked the minute those meta-humans lay eyes on us. Organizations probably more powerful than yours are out there, and the same can be said for organizations that can counter them…You didn't understand what I said, didn't you."

"Nope." Nagato deadpanned. "Not one word."

Itachi almost face palmed. "I think it might be easier to just show you." he submitted. Seriously? Was _this_ the feared and respected leader of Akatsuki?

Looking at the dead body, Itachi asked "You sure that won't rot while we're gone?"

"Don't worry, I just need five other bodies and Pain can be revived once again." Nagato reassured.

"That's not what I asked but…I'll take it he won't rot."

Donning his Akatsuki cloak and conical straw hat, Itachi opened a window and jumped out, feet sticking to the wall outside. Nagato followed.

Together they jumped through the city, covertly watching the super villains' exploits and the super heroes' achievements. With the help of Itachi's explanation of events, Nagato slowly and gradually began to understand what Itachi tried to tell him earlier, maybe even more so than Itachi himself.

At one point, they found a certain blonde terrorist bombing a power plant. No matter how much Nagato wanted to, arbitrating wasn't necessary because the local heroes already had it under control.

During his tour of the city, Nagato couldn't shake off the foreboding feeling plaguing his mind. There was a link between the other members' employment and their arrival here after dying. For one thing, it was _only_ Akatsuki. Second, the organization known as Light were very fast and willing to accept newcomers whom they seemingly knew nothing about. Itachi mentioned being approached when he first arrived.

Even though it was just a hunch, Nagato believed that their so-called 'rebirth' wasn't as accidental as they thought. He didn't voice his concerns to Itachi though, it could just be him being paranoid.

"And here," Itachi announced as he gestured to a small and quaint café area, "is where I meet up with some of my friends."

"Wait, _the_ Itachi Uchiha, has _friends?_" Nagato mocked, "This should reach the news!" Itachi playfully glared at him.

"Well, that makes two of us." A voice came from one of the tables. A group of teenagers sat at a table, waving to Itachi. A red haired boy, the one who spoke earlier, was grinning at the Uchiha.

"Why Crow, how nice of you to drop by in your uniform. And look, he brought a _friend_ too." He joked while holding his glass of Coke like it was a cup of tea.

Ignoring the boy, the two ninjas joined them at the table while Itachi introduced them to each other. "Leader-sama, from the left these are Robin, Kid Flash, Miss Martian, Artemis, Zatanna and Aqualad. Team, this is the leader of Akatsuki, Pain."

"_You're_ the leader? You don't look like what I expected." The girl introduced as Artemis drawled.

"I thought that too." Itachi commented. When everyone stared at him, Itachi added, "Long story short, Pain usually uses separate bodies to do the dirty work for him."

"Hey, since you're the leader, you could order the other Akatsuki guys to stand down." Robin suggested.

Nagato frowned. "If only it were that easy. The original objective of Akatsuki was to bring peace to our world. But our means of obtaining the power to do so were…unsightly, I admit. The four members in The Light and few others were motivated by monetary gain or other impure motives such as love of combat or desire for recognition. Faith in our cause was never considered. Therefore, they would still stay with The Light whether or not I join them.

"Ha! You want faith? Go talk to Priest, he's nuts about his 'Jashin' god." Kid Flash joked.

"Pain, does this mean you're on our side? Or will you go join The Light?" M'gann asked worriedly.

"I'd like to gain peace this time by a more appealing method. So yes, I am with you." Nagato replied with a small smile.

Aqualad smiled, "It's nice to see that another one is willing to cooperate with us. Now if only Batman could see that…"

"Batman…?" Nagato looked to the Uchiha. Said Uchiha sighed.

"The guy dressed in black with a bat symbol on his chest." Itachi translated.

"Dude, seriously?" Kid Flash snorted.

"Superman, Black canary and some others think he's okay." Zatanna replied to Aqualad.

Seeing Nagato's confused face again, Itachi translated, "The man who wears red underwear externally and the screeching blonde with no pants."

"Crow, you've really gotta- wait, what?!"

Nagato gave a sheepish grin, rubbing the back of his neck. "Sorry, I only know the heroes by their distinguishing appearances."

"…So you think the most distinguishing feature about Superman is his red 'underwear' and Canary's is the fact she, technically, wears no pants…"

"…"

"Wow, you're even worse than me…"

The Team and the ninjas all shared hearty laughs. For the first time in a very long time, Nagato finally let his tension loose and began to enjoy the little things in life.


	6. Sharkman and Origami

Chapter 6

Sharkman and Origami

Kisame wasn't really as bad as he thought he was, he realized this before he died. At times like these, Itachi was usually right. Too bad the little prick wasn't here to tell him 'I told you so.' It would have made the moment complete.

"No matter who you are, you do not know what kind of human you are until the very end. One realizes their true nature at the moment of death. That's the way to view death." That was what the Uchiha had commented when Kisame first met him.

Trapping himself in a Water Prison Jutsu with his sharks, Kisame couldn't help the thought that ran through his mind. 'I'm not such a worthless human after all.' And then the sharks devoured him, all for the sake of preserving 'Madara's' dream for a world of truth.

Now what was he doing in the middle of a river? Sure he was a humanoid shark and all but most sharks don't normally swim rivers. Swimming to the bank, Kisame noticed a chase of some kind heading where he used to be. He couldn't actually see if it was a chase there were just two washes of water being kicked out, one behind the other.

Kisame _almost_ joined the chase. Then he realized the thought of it was too much like how a certain orange-clad blonde would do it…and it creeped him out.

"Kisame…" a voice called out from nowhere, making Kisame jump slightly and take on a defensive stance with a kunai in hand. He came face-to-face with a familiar-looking woman. She had blue hair (a different shade from his own), amber-colored eyes, lavender eye shadow and a labret piercing. She wore a large light blue paper flower that was pinned to the bun on her head and a black cloak with red clouds.

Hold on…the cloak. That's _Akatsuki's_ uniform. He knew of only one person in Akatsuki who was a girl, the origami lady.

"Kisame," Konan repeated, "you wanted to chase after them, didn't you?"

At first Kisame was confused, then he caught on to his current situation.

"No…" he denied, hoping the woman wouldn't see through his lie.

"Anyways…"Konan changed the subject, looking at the trees around her "Do you have any idea where we are?"

"I'm just as clueless as you are. This place looks anything but familiar. Hey, didn't you betray the Akatsuki?"

Konan gave the Hoshigaki a tired expression. "Look Kisame, I know you still have your loyalties but I-"

"I don't mean anything like what you're thinking. Just a while ago I set my summoned sharks onto myself in an act of suicide."

A few moments passed and it clicked like the proverbial light bulb in Konan's head.

"You mean we're…and I haven't…" Konan's voice was filled with grief and denial. No way she could be dead; no way had she failed in killing Tobi. All that time observing the masked man and preparing six hundred billion paper bombs just to kill said masked man.

Kisame's hand met Konan's shoulder in a gesture of reassurance. Denial was the first step to depression.

"Wait," Konan realized, "if we're dead then…Nagato…Yahiko…"

Konan picked herself up. Paper forming wings on her shoulder blades, Konan took off into the sky, searching for wherever her childhood friends may be. Kisame watched her as her form disappeared from his sight. He didn't know who to look for. He never had people who he acknowledged and respected as comrades before, well maybe except Itachi. Speak of the weasel-headed devil.

…

Nagato stopped in the middle of the path in the park, looking at the sky above him. He wore sunglasses to cover his eyes and a track suit to blend in with his surroundings. Yahiko, similarly dressed to his childhood friend (minus the sunglasses), stopped and looked back at said friend's face.

"Is something wrong, Nagato?" the orange-haired man asked.

"I have a feeling…something good is going to happen soon." The red-head replied. "Depending on how we react, it might also be a bad thing."

"Since when did you become a sage?"

"It's just a feeling…"

…

Konan was getting nowhere. She could search the entire world and she would never be able to find her beloved friends in the dangerously huge crowds of people gathering at certain points. That is, if the two fools had the nerve to be part of such crowds.

Descending to the ground, Konan noticed the people below her were aware of her. And they didn't look too happy with the fact that someone like her was trying to join in with the crowd.

Deciding searching on foot wasn't such a good idea, Konan's paper angel wings flapped as they carried her higher into the sky, away from the civilians. Her flight height only reached the tallest of buildings that vaguely reminded the blue-head of her former home.

A flock of crows gathered on the side of one. Recognizing the technique and its owner, Konan's wings disassembled as she stuck herself to the building's side with chakra. When the crows merged, Konan was not prepared for what she saw.

…

"-so I guess it's appreciated that you stood out guard in the rain just to give me and Konan alone time." Yahiko conversed as the twosome rested on a wooden bench in the park.

"Wait, you guys didn't…?" Nagato left his sentence incomplete, disappointment showing behind his sunglasses.

"Huh? We didn't what?"

"I stood out there in the freezing rain _alone_ thinking that you and Konan were talking about my next birthday present…"

Yahiko face vaulted.

…

As the man stepped out from the flurry of crows, Konan called out in disbelief, "Kisame, how the hell did you do that?!"

"Eh?" was Kisame's intelligent reply, "Who said _I_ did it?"

Another round of calling crows behind Konan alerted her to the real user of the genjutsu.

"If you're looking for Pein-sama I'm afraid you're looking in all the wrong places." came the stern voice of the Uchiha.

Konan took in the appearance of a very wet and expressionless Itachi. His face was blank to the point where it almost seemed dangerous. Konan raised an eyebrow while Kisame was unsuccessfully trying to contain his chuckles.

"…What happened to you?" Konan asked hesitantly.

"Just alerting some friends about an unnecessary wild goose chase."

"You have _friends?_"

Kisame couldn't hold it in any longer and burst into a full-out laughter session while Itachi glared passively at the two newcomers hoping that they would burst into flames and never appear before his eyes again. Which he really could do if he ever wanted to, Amaterasu them to hell.

Suddenly, Konan grabbed the collar of Itachi's cloak and brought his face closer to hers.

"Forget that. Where's Nagato? Where's Pain?" she demanded forcefully.

Carefully and slowly removing the woman's hands from his cloak, Itachi calmly answered her question.

"Nagato-san and your other friend are alive and well." He assured.

"Oh thank goodness." Konan breathed a sigh of relief.

"Now hold on." Kisame interrupted, "What do you mean they're 'alive'? Aren't we dead?"

Itachi's onyx eyes drifted to his former partner. "Kisame, do you believe in reincarnation?

"Well…"

"I'm only basing this on theory but I believe something similar has happened to us, the Akatsuki."

"What do you mean?

Itachi went on to explain how only the Akatsuki members who had died appeared in a new world, joining sides and their achievements and plans. He also explained where they were, how to blend in and everything else they needed to know.

When the Uchiha was done he turned around and gestured for blue heads to follow. Jumping buildings, with the newcomers following him, Itachi headed for the New Orleans airport. Almost reaching there, Itachi stopped in a dark alleyway.

"Both of you, take your cloaks off." He ordered.

"Huh? Why?" Kisame questioned.

"Did I not tell you about the others causing trouble around? The Akatsuki uniform is practically famous and could spell trouble for us. And Kisame, put a henge on. We don't need unwanted attention because of your…appearance."

"Tch." But the humanoid shark complied, taking on a henge that looked just like his original self, minus the eyes, gills and pale blue skin.

"Just what are we doing exactly?" Konan put her hands on her hips after she sealed her cloak in a storage scroll. Kisame stared at her.

"Did you _want_ to wear that or did Leader-sama force you?" he drooled, earning a _very hard_ slap to the back of his head from Konan.

Who knew that, under the cloak, Konan wore a revealing navy blue robe?(probably Pain) The robe had a large hemline on the front, and exposed her arms, her back, the lateral part of her breast, and her belly, with her navel being surrounded by four more piercings. Instead of the standard sandals and leg-warmers, she wore a pair of blue pants that also functioned as her shoes, with white high heels, inverting the organization's standard color scheme.

"Just come with me and don't get lost or freak out." said an unaffected Uchiha.

_An Hour Later…_

The three ninjas were sitting on an airplane heading to Gotham City. Kisame was fidgety and grasping the arm of his seat harder than necessary.

"Are you scared?" smirked an amused Itachi. Oh how sweet revenge is.

Kisame glared at the Uchiha, not that it had any effect on the latter. "Che, I'm not scared. I'm just uncomfortable." Itachi stared at him.

"What, Konan flies so it's no big deal for her and you probably do this every day so you're used to it!" snapped the Mist ninja.

Konan sighed. It was going to be long flight.

…

At their shared apartment, Nagato and Yahiko were enjoying a meal of take-out fast food. Nagato stopped eating and looked out the window. Yahiko, seeing his friend, stopped halfway in taking another bite out of his hamburger.

"Nagato, what's up? You've been spacing out randomly all day." He asked in concern for his friend.

Nagato stayed silent, but Yahiko waited patiently.

"I just have the strongest urge to go to the airport." He replied.

"But you've got no one to meet. Except maybe Itachi-kun, I think he's coming back today. I didn't know you were so buddy-buddy with him." Yahiko wiggled his eyebrows.

"Ah…it's not that…"

"It's okay, Nagato, I totally understand."

"…Let's just go."

"_Right_ after my Happy Meal." That being said, Yahiko went back to stuffing his face with his food.

_A Few Hours Later…_

"Hmmm. Nagato, I don't see Itachi-kun anywhere." Yahiko said, his hand on his eyebrows blocking light from his eyes.

Nagato was silent. Yahiko took his silence as excitement. Even if the red head fervently denied it, Yahiko was truly convinced his childhood friend was gay. At least he had a good taste in guys, although he wasn't sure Itachi rolled that way.

Nagato wasn't silent for the reason Yahiko thought he was. He was silent because he was contemplating the strange feeling he keeps getting. It was like something good was going to happen. He just hoped he really wasn't gay.

Just then, a commotion was heard. The two ninjas turned their heads to see a scuffle between a big burly blonde man with a hockey mask on his face and a familiar red eyed Uchiha in his uniform. People around them were running away from the soon-to-be-crossfire.

"This mask has mirrored eyeholes, meaning your eye illusions are pretty much useless." Sportsmaster said as he raised a large gun pointed at Itachi.

Nagato and Yahiko glanced at each other, knowing what the other was thinking. Taking advantage of the civilians' diverted attention, the two ninjas stealthily donned their uniform with straw hats from the storage scrolls they always kept on their persons. A superhero can never know when a crime needs to be fought.

Taking their places beside Crow, Sportsmaster was faced with Pain and Deva.

"Oh? Three against two?" Sportsmaster commented, "That's not fair, right Cheshire?"

"Agreed." A female voice came from behind the trio.

A sai whizzed past Crow, heading for Deva. Deva held out a kunai, ready to deflect it when a shuriken made of paper did it for him. Yahiko and Nagato knew of only one person who could make paper shurikens like that. Looking for the source of the thrown object they found the missing digit in their group, Konan, standing at one side of the fight scene and poised to throw another shuriken. Kisame stood at the other side ready to make hand seals for a jutsu.

Knowing not to fight a losing battle, and that they were running out of time Sportsmaster got ready to make a retreat.

"Five against two, now _that's_ unfair." Cheshire commented as she stood next to her father and dropped a smoke bomb, concealing their presences. Crow moved in to intercept only to find their opponents as cracking blocks of ice.

When the ice fell apart Crow was found talking to Red Arrow who had just arrived on the scene. Red Arrow was one of the few who didn't think the three Akatsuki were a threat, though he didn't fully trust them either.

"So new friends just _appear out of nowhere _around the time Sportsmaster made a getaway? That's _so_ believable." Red Arrow commented sarcastically.

"It seems so…" Crow replied.

While Crow tried to convince Red Arrow his friends were no threat with Kisame watching in amusement, the Ame Orphans were having a heart-felt reunion. Konan hugged her childhood friends, tears forming and threatening to fall. Yahiko was on the verge of breaking down to sobs.

"I'm so glad both of you are alive." She sniffed.

"Funny thing about that. You see, Yahiko wasn't really alive when we first arrived." Nagato chuckled.

"What are you talking about?" Konan questioned.

"Well, it went like this…" Nagato started to explain.

_Flashback…_

Itachi and Nagato arrived back at the Uchiha's apartment.

"Well, that tour was…fun. And your friends are certainly interesting. Aren't they a little too young?" Nagato commented.

"I met Kid Flash first, so naturally I got acquainted with his friends. I also know the Flash, his mentor…the super-fast man in red with horrible puns…" Itachi explained.

"Oh I see."

Suddenly the two ninjas froze upon noticing that the dead body that was on the couch when they left was NOWHERE IN SIGHT. Holding kunai in their hands, they searched the apartment for trespassers. Nagato found him first, in the bathroom standing in front of the mirror trying to take off the numerous piercings on his face and body. Deva path Pain was alive and healthy, not really since his removal of some piercings left small and still bleeding holes.

"Nagato!" Yahiko exclaimed, surprised to see his friend at an unusual moment. Nagato was at a loss for words.

Itachi came at that moment, hearing Yahiko's exclaim, to find the man that was thought to be dead and rotting on his couch. There were so many things wrong with this picture. Now to perform some medical treatment on the poor bleeding guy.

_End Flashback…_

"…And that's how it is." Nagato ended. Konan was speechless. Kisame, overhearing the story, frowned at how absurd it sounded. Itachi had ended his conversation with Red Arrow and was now heading back to his home, Kisame following since he had nowhere else to go. He gave the other three ninjas a wave as goodbye, and then disappeared with Kisame.

"Well, sorry Nagato. It seems Itachi-kun is already taken." Yahiko reassured as he slapped Nagato's shoulder.

"Yahiko, when I was talking about a good feeling earlier, I was referring to Konan." Nagato gestured to said female.

"…Ooooh right. Sorry." Yahiko apologized, sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck.

"So, what do we do now?" Konan asked.

"Well, we go home. Today's probably been a long day for you. You can stay with us, we have an extra room." Nagato suggested.

"And tomorrow, you can come crime-fighting with us and help us put down the rest of Akatsuki." Yahiko added.

"I'd like that." Konan smiled.

"Yup, welcome to our little group…Origami." Yahiko smiled back.

…

"What now?" Kisame grunted as the two entered Itachi's apartment through the door.

"Hmm, let's see. Since you're living with me you'll have to help me defeat the Akatsuki in The Light." Itachi mused.

"Well, that's easy. Never liked the buggers anyways."

"Your codename will be Sharkman."

"What? No, that name sucks. I want something cooler!"

"Too bad. My house, my rules."

"You're a cold bastard, you know that?"

Itachi smirked. Yeah, he knew that.


	7. Captured

Chapter 7

Captured

"Well this is quite the turn of events." Pain commented as he and four other ninjas were faced with the mobs of escaped convicts and metahumans from Belle Reve and various other prisons against the teenaged protégés of various superheroes who happened to be some of Itachi's _friends._

"You know this is probably the time where we stop chatting and start fighting." Deva said as he charged into the crossfire between heroes and villains.

Origami shook her head. She'd known Deva for most of her life and even she couldn't believe the recklessness of his nature. This wasn't something he could handle on his own. Ice-type attacks never sat well with the orange-haired man, the water element being his affinity, and there were around two or three down there.

Crow cast a genjutsu on the villain who was charging towards him, making him believe that he was further away than he really was so that the super powered man charged right past him.

"How did this happen anyways?" Origami asked as her paper deflected all the bullets directed at the heroes.

"It's not the 'how did it happen?' that solves the puzzle. Rather, it's the 'why did it happen?'" Pain said, his Almighty Push deflecting various bullets, lasers and projectiles each convict was infamous for or used respectively.

"…I'm not following…" Sharkman said as his Water Dragons put out fires in evacuated civilian homes.

Before Pain could elaborate, Miss Martian tapped into their minds and interrupted their conversation.

'Mental link with Akatsuki has been established.' She stated.

'Good, you guys are here.' Aqualad's voice ran through their heads. 'We need you to put down and send these convicts back to their prisons while we track down our mole.'

'Oh? You found your mole?' Crow almost mocked, like he had already known who it was.

'It was Red Arrow. He was the mole, but he didn't know it because he was a clone the whole time acting on orders from Cadmus.' Aqualad answered, slight anger in his tone towards Cadmus.

'I fucking knew it.' Deva's cocky grin was practically _heard_ by all those who were listening.

'Deva, watch your language!' Origami scolded.

'Wait, you guys knew?' Artemis asked, almost angry. 'Why didn't you tell us?!'

'Calm down, Artemis.' Pain assured 'We've had our suspicions, but we couldn't accuse unless we had enough evidence.'

'It wouldn't have hurt to make a suggestion.' Superboy grumbled as he smashed the heads of the Terror Twins together, successful in disorientating them but not in knocking them out.

'Would you have believed us?' Crow asked rhetorically.

"In any case, go. We'll take care of things from here!" Sharkman yelled out loud as he knocked away a villain with the giant metal sword he used in place of Samehada.

'We use telepathy for a reason you know.' Artemis's voice directed at the humanoid shark shot through the heroes' heads.

"I'd like to see you keep a straight head with people's voices running through it." He retorted.

'This is me keeping a straight head with voices in it.' Artemis smirked as her arrow deflected a flying ice shard directed at Sharkman.

'Okay, enough chatting. Miss Martian, now that the Akatsuki is taking care of this, we should continue our mission tracking down Arrow.' Aqualad interrupted.

'The Bioship is on the way.' The Martian girl confirmed.

Not ten seconds later, a slight distortion appeared in the sky that only the Martian and the ninjas were able to notice. As it descended, its hatch opened and the Team retreated into it with the ninjas covering their backs. Several projectiles flew the ship's way but they were deflected by Artemis, who was shooting arrow after arrow as she ran towards the open hatch of the Bioship.

Crow summoned a crow and presented it to the last person going in, who was Superboy.

'What's this for?' he asked telepathically.

'Any time you need us, this is our calling card.' The Sharingan wielder told him.

'Thanks, but no thanks. We can take care of ourselves.'

Crow shrugged. 'It wouldn't hurt to be careful.'

Superboy mock-glared at the man for using his words against him and waved goodbye as the hatch closed with the crow perched on the half-Kryptonian's shoulder. Almost immediately, the ship levitated off the ground and took off, going into camouflage mode when it touched the clouds.

The fight continued. Everywhere, villains were getting knocked out or incapacitated. Origami noticed a frustrated and angry look on Deva's face and she knew exactly what he was thinking.

"Deva, Miss Martian is out of range so stop trying to communicate telepathically." She called out. Deva's cheeks turned red from embarrassment.

"Yeah, I knew that!" he yelled back, earning snickers from Sharkman and small chuckles from Pain. Face flushing, he continued "But how many convicts are here to hold off? There's way too many! They're not all just from Belle Reve, are they?"

"He's right." Pain mused. "What do you think we should do, Crow?" he asked, smirking at the Uchiha prodigy as said Uchiha fell silent, as his genjutsu knocked out another escaped prisoner crying and screaming on the damaged road.

"Leave them. These are small fries that are obviously distractions for the superiors. The citizens have evacuated so not much harm could be done anyways."

"I see, the 'small fries', as you put it, serve as a decoy to drive attention away from something big." Using his Universal Pull, Pain's palm met the face of one young man with spiky white hair and skin coated with ice. "Would you mind telling us that 'big thing'?" Rippled eyes met ice blue ones as the red haired man stared at Icicle Jr.

"Look, even I have no idea what the heck is going on myself!" Icicle Jr. defended. "My dad just told us to cause some ruckus and-"

"Your father?" Pain interrupted. "Icicle Senior, am I right?"

"…Yeah." Jr. confirmed after a moment's hesitation.

"Good. Where is he?"

"You know what? I don't know!"

(Almighty) Pushing him away, Pain turned towards the Uchiha and nodded. Crow sighed and activated his Mangekyou.

"This is going to be tiring." He muttered.

"I think I found out the 'Why this is happening' thing you were talking about earlier…" Sharkman said.

"Akatsuki, retreat to the city borders! Do not let any of the convicts, human or not, leave the border!" Pain ordered.

The others nodded and ran from the scene.

…

"Did you hear that, yeah?" Incinerator asked Priest.

"From this height, do you _think_ I can fucking hear them?" the Jashinist retorted.

"Whatever, I was just asking, yeah. Wait, are you eating a _potato?!_" Incinerator exclaimed while looking at the steaming potato halfway through Priest's mouth.

Swallowing his mouthful of the potato, the pink-eyed man replied "Bitch, I might be."

"How could you think of eating potatoes at a time like this, yeah?"

Before Priest could think of a smart comeback, Scorpion cut in.

"Could the both of you _please_ shut up before you rot my ears?" he yelled.

Standing on a clay bird (Incinerator's creation no doubt), the three ninjas overlooked the part of the city in which their former Akatsuki members were retreating. It sure was hard to identify which Akatsuki team they were talking about every time someone mentioned them.

"When do we start again?" Priest asked.

Scorpion sighed. "When your boyfriend gives the signal, you bonehead!"

Throwing his half-eaten potato at the puppeteer, who dodged it, the Jashinist yelled "That fucking materialistic Frankenstein wannabe Jashin-hating fucktard is not my fucking boyfrie-!"

"There's the signal, yeah!" Incinerator cut in, pointing to almost unseen strands of thread reaching out towards the clouds from the ground.

"Fuck yeah!" Priest yelled, all anger from the 'boyfriend' thing disappeared. "Let's burn this motherfucking piece of shit who dared to call himself God! Jashin is the only God here, bitch!"

"We need to take his eyes first." Scorpion warned. "By the way, he's known as Pain here."

"Who the fuck cares? Let's take his fucking eyes, and then sacrifice him to Lord Jashin!"

"Do what you want, yeah." Deidara sighed and ordered his clay bird to swoop down to the city suburbs where Pain was currently running.

…

Pain ran across empty streets and jumped the roofs of empty houses. The police force sure did a good job in evacuating the citizens. Sharkman, Origami and Deva were already retreating as far away from the city as possible while keeping their assailants at bay. In other words, they were all separated.

The plan was for Crow to cast a wide-range genjutsu over the city. It would be low-level, but enough to subdue all the convicts long enough for the police to put them back in their rightful places.

Just then, the Rinnegan bearer noticed a larger-than-normal bird gliding above him. Looking up, he recognized the type of gigantic pure white clay bird that a certain blonde terrorist used. And this bird was heading straight for him.

Just meters from his place, Pain unleashed an Almighty Push that set off the bird bomb instantly. Barely two seconds after, one crazy as fuck Jashinist came jumping out from the smoke wielding his Three Bladed Scythe.

"Haha! You're mine, bitch!" Priest yelled as he swung his Scythe onto Pain's head.

The red haired man dodged the scythe, only for a wooden arm to drive a held kunai into the back of his shoulder blade, all this in the span of under five seconds. This was bad; the minimum interval before he could use another jutsu was five seconds. The puppet arm drove the kunai deeper into Pain's shoulder, drawing another spurt of blood.

By the time five seconds were up, Pain felt dizzy and unfocused, unable to summon the chakra to form another Almighty Push. Pulling out the kunai from his back he realized that it was laced with anesthesia.

'Oh shit.' He mentally cursed before dropping to his knees. The last thing he saw before he blacked out was Kakuzu picking up his limp body before he fell flat on his face.

…

**AN**

**Hello~ to my readers! **** Sorry for not posting for so long, I got caught up in writing my other stories. *sheepish chuckle* I promise I'll try to make the updates faster this time.**

**By the way, another few chapters and this story will be finished. But don't worry because I'll make a sequel! :D I set up a poll on whether the sequel should be strictly restricted to only Akatsuki or if other Naruto characters could join in.**

**Oh and any questions and mysteries you have in this chapter will be revealed later on so there's no point in asking me questions. If, in the end, you still don't understand something then you can ask.**

**See ya next chappie!**

**Dragonoiya**


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